


Build a Family

by Nicnac



Series: Elementary Falls [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Elementary Falls AU, Family, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 16:03:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7624981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicnac/pseuds/Nicnac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Many men can make a fortune but very few can build a family." -J.S. Bryan</p>
            </blockquote>





	Build a Family

It wasn’t until Stan drove past the sign for Gravity Falls that it occurred to him to start worrying.

Not about his decision to take Dipper and Mabel in and raise them himself; that he had been worried about almost since the moment he’d made it. Gravity Falls was no place to raise a pair of precocious and curious little kids. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the town itself and the people, while quite literally some of the dumbest people on the entire planet, were mostly well-meaning. But there was more to Gravity Falls than met the eye, and the one thing Stan knew about all that weird stuff was that it could be very dangerous. What did he think he was doing, taking these two kids up to a place like that? Hell, what did he think he was doing taking in two kids at all? He didn’t know anything about raising kids. Well, okay, maybe he knew a thing or two, which was exactly the problem.

Stan wasn’t an idiot; he knew how Soos felt about him. And maybe Stan returned ~~some~~ ~~most~~ all of those feelings. And hey, could you blame him? Soos was one of the most easy-going good-natured kids Stan had ever met, and he was the first person in a very long time who seemed happy just to have Stan around. The thing was, Soos was also pretty obviously hoping that Stan would adopt him one day, and that wasn’t going to happen.

Things were different with Dipper and Mabel, and not because they were his blood relatives, or because Soos had done anything wrong. It was just that those two little kids sleeping away in the back seat of his car didn’t have anyone else in the world to look out for them – well, no one besides their Aunt Karen, which, ugh, no, she was the worst. So no matter how many different ways Stan could imagine this going horribly, horribly wrong, in the end he had to take Dipper and Mabel in because they needed him. Soos, on the other hand, had his Abuelita looking out for him, and Stan knew first-hand how protective that woman could be. And then there was the never-ending parade of aunts and uncles and cousins, all of whom would be there for Soos in a heartbeat if he ever needed them. So yeah, Stan would take the space that Soos carved out for him, but he wasn’t going to get in the way of family.

He just wasn’t sure that Soos would see it that way. And the last thing that kid needed was to feel like he was being abandoned by his dad again.

Finally, Stan pulled his car up to the Mystery Shack. “Hey kids, time to–”

The sound of a door slamming open caught Stan’s attention, and he looked over at the Shack where Soos was now making a beeline for them. “What the?” Stan got out of the car, and then immediately had to throw his hands up out of the way when Soos launched himself at Stan’s chest.

“Mr. Pines! I thought you got eaten by coyotes,” he wailed.

“What’re you talking about? I’m fine.”

“You said you’d be gone for a week and it’s been ten days,” Soos said. Stan did vaguely remember telling Soos he thought he’d be back in a week when he left, but it hadn’t occurred to him to call and let the kid know things were going to be taking longer than expected. Crap. Soos’s Abuelita was going to be giving Stan an earful tonight.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” Stan said, awkwardly patting the top of Soos’s head. “Things at my brothers place just took longer than I was expecting, is all.”

“Your brother! Are you doing okay Mr. Pines; do you need a hug?”

“Soos, you are literally hugging me right now,” Stan pointed out.

“Oh, right,” Soos said, finally letting go. He unabashedly wiped his snot and tears off on his arm, before turning to take in the sight of the trailer Stan had hooked up behind his car. “Wow, that’s a lot of stuff. What all did you bring back with you?”

As if on cue, the back door to the car opened and the sleepy-eyed twins piled out. “Grunkle Stan, who was yelling?” Mabel asked.

Alright, time to face the music. “Kids, meet my handyman, Soos. Soos, these are my great-niece and nephew, Mabel and Dipper. They were living with their grandpa before, and now I guess I’m going to be taking care of them.”

“Does Grunkle Stan take care of you too?” Dipper asked Soos.

“Well, I live with my Abuelita, but yeah, I guess Mr. Pines takes care of me too, some,” Soos said. He didn’t seem upset, which in Soos’s case meant that he wasn’t; the kid was no good at hiding his emotions. “Don’t worry, little dudes, your uncle is going to take great care of you.”

“Does that mean you’re our big brother now?” Mabel said.

“That’s not exactly–”

But apparently Mabel had gotten the idea into her head, because she interrupted Stan with a chant of “Big brother, big brother, big brother,” and after a moment Dipper joined in. Then Soos looked at him with big pleading eyes, and really, there was no way Stan wasn’t going to cave.

“Alright, alright, you kids can do what you want. What do I care?”

“Yay!” Dipper and Mabel cheered, each grabbing on to one of Soos’s hands.

“I’ve always wanted a little brother or sister,” Soos said excitedly. “Just wait, little dudes, I’m going to be the best big brother ever. I’ll teach you how to fix all the stuff around the Shack and we can bake cookies together and go exploring and go to the lake and I’ll scare off anyone who tries to bully you and…”

“And you can start by helping me to bring all their stuff in,” Stan ordered.

“Sure thing, Mr. Pines,” Soos said, reaching in the back seat to grab the kids’ backpacks and hoist one over each shoulder. Then he grabbed Dipper and Mabel’s hands again and led them inside, going right back to chattering away at them about all the things they were going to do together.

Whaddya know. Maybe, just this once, he’d been worried over nothing.


End file.
